Yucateca Wins Design Prize

Yucateca Wins Global Prize

While we were all watching the Olympics, and many Mexicans were bemoaning the lack of medals for Mexico, a 17-year old girl from Merida, Yucatan, Mexico, named Lourdes Gimena Anguiano Bermudez, became the Gold Medalist in the Fourth Annual Adobe Certified Associate (ACA) World Championship.

Lourdes Gimena Anquiano Bermúdez attends Instituto Cumbres y Godwin Mérida and took the Adobe Certified Associate certification, which inspired her to enter the competition. Lourdes flew to Orlando, Florida where she competed against 30 finalists from all over the world. She won the top prize out of 32 finalists from 19 countries and was sponsored by ETC Iberoamérica. She received a $5,000 cash prize, as well as a trophy and medal for her great work. Lourdes is the first Gold Medal winner from a Spanish-speaking country, beating 230,000 competitors worldwide.

The ACA Competition

In Orlando, contestants were given a design challenge and 8 hours to complete it using Adobe digital design tools. They were asked to create a poster and digital flyer for real world client International Child Art Foundation.

Lourdes' winning entry is the top photo on this page (on the right), followed by a few of the other posters and a photo of her award ceremony, as well as the trophy. You can also see a video interview with Lourdes (in Spanish, por supuesto).

This competition was mounted by Certiport (www.certiport.com), a Pearson VUE business and the leading test delivery solution provider for the global workforce and academic markets. They created the annual competition to showcase digital communications skills and to promote industry certification among students. The company manages a portfolio of certification programs including: the official Microsoft Office Specialist certification program, the Microsoft Technology Associate certification program, the Microsoft Certified Educator program, the Adobe® Certified Associate certification program, the Autodesk Certified User and Autodesk Certified Professional certification programs, the Intuit QuickBooks Certified User certification program, and the IC3 Digital Literacy certification.

2016 ACA World Champions

Lourdes Bermúdez finds herself at the top of a very international list of talented designers:

First place, Lourdes Gimena Anquiano Bermúdez, Mexico

Second place, Ng Hwa Ee Nicholas, Malaysia

Third place, Cheung Kuok Pan, Macau

Fourth place, Loh Xin Yi Chrystabelle, Singapore

Fifth place, Flavio Gabriel Alvarado Valencia, Peru

Sixth place, Yolanda Barr, Caribbean

Seventh place, Satapron Malee, Thailand

Eight place, Amanda Galvan, USA

Ninth place, Marie Bailey, New Zealand

Tenth place, Un Tin Hang, Macau

Certiport and Adobe sponsored the ACA World Championship and the International Child Art Foundation (ICAF) served as the client for the student posters, which were designed during the competition held earlier this month from August 7 – 10, 2016.

“Digital design skills are in-demand worldwide, and the ACA World Championship recognizes and celebrates the impressive, career-ready competencies that students are developing all over the world,” said Bob Whelan, president of Pearson Assessments. “The number of ACA World Championship entries nearly tripled this year so we know more students are realizing the benefits of earning Adobe Certified Associate certification to validate their skills. We congratulate Lourdes on this distinguished accomplishment.”

Students were asked to create a digital marketing flyer for ICAF’s 6th Arts Olympiad using Adobe Photoshop CC, Adobe Illustrator CC and/or Adobe InDesign CC. They were judged on their creative and technical skills, as well as their ability to implement the client’s vision and message. This type of design challenge prepares students for real world work assignments.

"We had been told about the high level of expertise the ACA World Championship finalists would bring to the table, but they exceeded our expectations," said Dr. Ashfaq Ishaq, Founder and Chair of ICAF. "The competitors had an impressive mastery of Adobe products combined with some incredible creative talent. We enjoyed judging the projects – they were professional and inspiring.”

The first, second and third place ACA World Champions were selected based on design score and were awarded scholarship money ($5,000, $2,500, $1,000 USD), Adobe software, and gold, silver, and bronze medals. Honorable mention scholarships of $250 USD were given to fourth through tenth place with an additional $250 USD for the People’s Choice Award as voted on by event attendees.

"We have supported the ACA Championship since it began four years ago because it is a terrific way to celebrate young, creative talent. I congratulate Lourdes and the other finalists for their incredible skills, passion and creativity,” said Tracy Trowbridge, Global Education Programs Lead, Adobe. “Students all over the world are earning ACA certification and demonstrating they have the creative and technical skills needed for both academic and career success. We can’t wait to see what they do next.”

Celebrating Lourdes

Next year, Certiport will host the 2017 Adobe Certified Associate World Championship in Anaheim, California. If you know any budding designers, let them know about the competition and certification that they must attain to enter.

For now, we celebrate Lourdes Gimena Anquiano Bermúdez, an obviously talented young woman who has won a Gold Medal in design, putting herself, Merida and the Yucatan in the international spotlight. Felicidades, Lourdes!!